Sunday, November 23, 2008

I'm sitting on the deck today, puffing a pipe and having a glass of a great BC Shiraz and watching grandson Nicholas romping around the yard. Fearlessly he is jumping off the lower deck, frontward and backwards, galloping across the yard and launching himself as far out into the air as he can off the edge of the hill towards the driveway. To myself I say... that would really hurt.

I wonder at what point I stopped taking chances, going for broke, taking that leap and be darned with the dangers. If I tried any of the things he's doing right now I will most likely hurt for hours or even break something. In my mind I can already feel the shooting pains in my back and the agony that at least one knee would feel.

So, are the pains real or imaginary? When did I stop "going for it" and start playing it safe? When did I become comfortable and decide to sit back and wait for life to pass by? How do I learn to live again and fight the good fight?

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Yes folks, it's time to stock up on Watkins Cooking Spray. Why? Because in addition to it being the best darned cooking spray you'll ever try, it's also fantastic at making your winter months a little less frustrating. How?

Use #1: Spray it on your TV Satellite Dish to prevent the snow from building up and blocking your signal. Don't you just hate having to run outside to bang the snow off your dish so you don't miss the latest crisis on Y&R? Or the last 30 seconds of a tied hockey game?

Use #2: Spray it on your snow shovel and even the really sticky stuff won't stick and add all that extra weight with every scrape. The snow will just shoot off the blade and your job will go much faster and easier.

Why can't I use something like PAM you say? Well you can of course, but the Watkins brand will give you almost 4 times the number of squirts that your PAM will. But PAM is cheaper you say? No, it isn't because with the extra sprays you get with Watkins each one works out to cost less than 1/2 cent compared to more than 1 1/2 cents per spray of the PAM. Therefore you save almost $18.00 over PAM when you purchase a can of Watkins Cooking Spray.

Oh yeah, most importantly...

Use #3: The Watkins brand is also fantastic for cooking and tastes and smells like butter without the chemical odor that I think PAM has. Want another perk? Calories per spray for PAM = 4. Calories per spray for Watkins = 0.

Where can I get some of this fantastic wonder product you ask? Drop me an email or comment on this note and I'll get in touch!

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Gloria and I recently spent a couple days in Toronto, she for workshops and I as a tourist. I walked many a mile around the city during our stay and found myself one afternoon at the main entrance to the Royal Ontario Museum. Thinking "when will I have this chance again" I went in.

There are over 6 millions items in the museum collection and while I'm sure I didn't see all of them I'm certain a good many of them passed through my view that afternoon.

One of the special exhibits open at the moment is "The Nature of Diamonds" being presented by De Beers. This is a fantastic display showing every aspect of the diamond mining process with a multi-multi-multi million dollar display of jewellery and gems including this one... "The Incomparable Diamond." This stone is a fantastic 407.48 yellow diamond cut in the shield shape and was found in its original 890 carat state by a young girl playing in the rubble beside her uncles house in the Congo. Value? Only about $12 million! I had thought about picking it up for Gloria but looking around at the 12" thick steel vault walls, the cameras and the security guards complete with bullet-proof vests sort of discouraged my idea a little bit!

How about Marie Antoinette's dress? I know someone who claims that in a previous life he was a soldier in the French court who actually saw this lady on several occasions. He swears that he never saw her in this particular dress but that she was in fact a bit of a show off and normally wore more colorful and flamboyant apparel. Probably one of the things that got her in trouble with the good citizens of the day as she was beheaded shortly after my friend remembers being drowned in a fountain by a group of rioting peasants.

The museum is crammed full of human artifacts from all over the world some dating back 5,000 years and I won't even try to describe them all. Suits of chain mail and weaponry from the time of the knights, statutes of Buddha, Japanese porcelain, dinosaur skeletons, Hawaiian costumes, Chinese tombs... a person could spends months here and still not see and understand everything. I'm going back for sure... anyone care to join me?

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Everyone needs a road trip now and then and yesterday was the perfect day for one. I got underway a little bit later than planned but still arrived in the general vicinity of where I wanted to be just about when I had calculated.

There was no wildlife on the road with the exception of a confused rabbit that travelled with me for a couple hundred feet. He running straight up the center double lines and me in my proper lane. Who know how long we would have continued like this had a transport truck not approached from the opposite direction. At that time he decided to get back to where he belonged and chose to leave me right beside a “Danger, Moose on Road” sign. Guess he really was confused as to who he was, or perhaps he actually had been a moose in a previous life and was just reliving his earlier days once again.

I awoke this morning looking at the lake. Not ‘my’ lake but one that I don’t even know the name of. It doesn’t matter as the rising sun was the same one as at home and there was the little red car waiting patiently for whatever adventures the day might bring. I’ve no plans and nowhere to be until tomorrow so let’s top off the tank and roll!

As “Canada’s 12th Wonder” Manitoulin Island holds a number of Canadian and world distinctions that we encourage you to explore when you visit our area.
This blog is a collection of personal ramblings, comments and observations gathered first while traveling around the country for The North West Company and now during my retirement years on Manitoulin Island as an Independent Associate with Watkins. Feel free to comment, I thank you for stopping by and hope to hear from you soon!